WASHINGTON – President Bush’s approval rating in New Jersey is lower than ever – but Democrat John Kerry doesn’t seem able to capitalize on it, according to a new poll.

In a three-way race, Kerry scored 46 percent, Bush 40 and independent Ralph Nader 7. Bush has slipped over the past month – but Kerry hasn’t moved, while Nader gained a few points in the new Quinnipiac University poll.

It’s the latest in a series of surveys that suggest the state could become a 2004 battleground, even though Democrat Al Gore romped to a 15-point win there in 2000.

Fully 54 percent of New Jersey voters disapprove of the job Bush is doing as president, and the same percentage believes the war in Iraq is wrong, according to the poll.

But Kerry still lags Bush in favorable ratings, with the president scoring 35 percent and his challenger only 30. Jersey voters also say Bush will do better on terror.

Kerry is still a question mark to some Garden State voters – 13 percent say they don’t know enough about him to have an opinion, while only 1 percent say the same thing about Bush.

A separate national poll by the University of Pennsylvania offered brighter news for Bush, with approval of his handling of Iraq and terrorism both rising, to 44 and 53 percent respectively. He also moved up on overall approval to 52 percent.